Ripcord

So many films and TV shows today are made that make money off the merchandising end. This was an early TV show that did that. Two guys run a parachute center and help out the police, forest rangers and so on fight crime, rescue people etc. But the best part of this show was that it produced a neat toy. For $1.98 you could get your very own toy parachute made of a heavy plastic with a little toy Army man attached who would come floating down to earth after you packed the chute and tucked it into the opening on his back and threw it into the air. For kids of the late 50's early 60's this was great. The show on the other hand was pretty much the same week to week. The sky diving scenes however were authentic. Considering the difficulty in filming something like this during this time period it would have to be considered a little ahead of it's time. The late Ken Curtis who is best remembered as Festus on Gunsmoke starred in this action series.